Big Ten Conference (B1G), previously Western Conference and Big Nine Conference, is the oldest and the largest Division I college athletic conference in the United States. Established in 1896, the conference consists of institutions located primarily in the Midwest. Regardless of its name, the conference comprises of 12 world-class academic institutions, as Penn State joined in 1990 and University of Nebraska- Lincoln in 2011. Member schools compete at the highest level of NCAA competition in football and basketball.

DESIGN ELEMENTS OF BIG TEN LOGO

Shape and Font of the Big Ten Logo:

The current Big Ten logo was created by Michael Bierut and Michael Gericke of the famous design studio Pentagram. The original logo, which was used from lettering 1990 to 2011, had “11″, the actual number of member institutions, in the negative space around the “T” in “Ten”. The new design, which actually received a lukewarm response from fans and critics, took inspiration from this use of negative space, and is based on the conference’s iconic name without directly or indirectly mentioning the number of member schools.

It contains a modern collegiate typeface with an embedded numeral “10″ in the word “BIG”, which, as a result, allows the audience to see “BIG” and “10″ in a single word.

Colors of the Big Ten Logo:

The blue color in the Big Ten logo represents unity, success and excellence, whereas the black color stands for the strength and will power of the participants.